


red camellias

by miistical



Category: Brave 10
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, F/M, Inspired by Hades and Persephone (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), It could be Way longer than it is already, Really I could have made this into like ten chapters, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22175035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miistical/pseuds/miistical
Summary: Sasuke slowly breathed out. He didn't quite understand what his lord meant in saying such things. Yukimura had called Izanami destruction. He had said she was something like a wild beast. A monster. She was the goddess of death and so then she must be some kind of evil.'But she was so gentle,' Sasuke thought to himself. 'To be left in yomi with nothing but the dead... isn't she lonely?'
Relationships: Isanami/Sarutobi Sasuke (Brave 10)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	red camellias

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xisanamii](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xisanamii/gifts).



> BIG sorry for xisanamii, this entire thing just got away from me and may or may not be 3k longer than expected lmao I hope you like it!!!
> 
> Find me on tumblr and twitter @miistical :P

The wind was nothing but a hint of a whisper throughout the Divine Forest, the leaves speaking in hushed rustles. The chirping birds that hid among the high up branches made it seem as if all the green had awoken to talk to one another. Nature had a funny way of telling those who walked through of its many curiosities and wonders.  
  
The Divine Forest often had stories to tell—tales of creatures long before humans and their gods first drew breath, first spilled golden blood, first crawled through the dense foliage of its feet that bloomed ambrosia and seeped nectar.  
  
Maybe it was those secret creatures that had created the gods. Maybe it had been the Forest itself.  
  
Maybe the gods had simply tired of waiting to be born.  
  
As Sasuke, the god of nature, walked through the Divine Forest with his dear familiar chittering away in his ear, the Forest found itself uncaring of the answer. It had its sweet protector of the budding things and the daring predators that stalked between its trees - it needed no answer to unasked questions that had never mattered in the first place.  
  
The Forest watched with lazy contentment as its god strolled past, unaware of how the plants slid far from his feet and those up high bent down to brush his cheeks and gently pet the weasel that danced along his shoulders.  
  
No no, Sasuke was unknowing of the love his Domain carried for him—that did not stop it from showing it, however.  
  
The roots of the forest floor sunk even deeper into the soil, careful to keep their vines and stems from tripping their god. Leaves of shrubs and bushes shivered as he passed them and those lucky to be touched shined a brighter green than their siblings. The dryads of the Forest peaked shyly around tree trunks, some even still half-fused to their home.  
  
Sasuke smiled and waved. The dryads giggled among themselves and waved back. One tried to beckon him over, but Sasuke just huffed a small laugh and shook his head.  
  
He was a young god, but not a foolish one—he had seen his Lord Yukimura tricked by their harmless pranks enough times to know to carry on.  
  
Sasuke weaved in between the trees, running a hand down their rough sides, the patches of bark gently catching at the callouses of his fingers. Ameharu snuggled into the curve of his neck, curled up and warm, and quickly fell asleep. Sasuke huffed, a small smile aimed at his old companion; there was something relaxing about watching Ameharu as he rested.  
  
His pace began to slow. His smile fell. _Everything_ about the Forest was relaxing; it was quiet, beautiful, safe, and utterly boring.  
  
Sasuke sighed. He looked up to the softly fluttering leaves and watched as the sunlight that filtered through the canopy slowly lit everything up in burnished gold. He stood, flowers slowly coming to life around him, and watched as all that gold slowly softened into a soft pink. He breathed in and wondered if all the beauty before him would ever be enough—was ever worth never leaving the Forest.  
  
He was happy to attend to Lord Yukimura, of course he was. He was grateful to his Lord and the other gods, but so few of them ever visited him. Lords Nobuyuki and Rokuro, as well as Lady Komatsu, only ever came to the Forest to speak with Lord Yukimura; rarely did they visit for pleasure and rarer still did they speak with Sasuke. Saizo and Yuri were both reprehensibly annoying and better left to their own Domains and Jinpachi and Kakei would never dare venture far from the seashore, let alone each other. Even Anastasia spent most of her time among her mountaintops, only coming down as the mood struck her.  
  
Did more gods exist outside of this small circle? Did they know of his existence? Would they care? Sasuke often wondered what was beyond the many trees of his birthplace—he knew of the sun, the sky, the moon. He knew of the cold and the heat, the life beneath his feet, but what of the stars?  
  
Sasuke played with the animals and the faeries, but who did they belong to? Which god or goddess gave birth to them? Were they still alive? If they were, why hadn't he _met_ _them yet_?  
  
The questions rattled around his head like dice upon an uneven table.  
  
_'I am the god of nature,_ ' he thought to himself, his pace picking up speed. _'Should I not attend the meetings Lord Yukimura hosts? Do I not influence the people as the others do?'  
  
_ He had no answer except for what the Forest whispered to him and, though the trees were just as old, if not older, than he was, they did not have the answers he did not already know of.  
  
Glowing white as the light dimmed further, Sasuke walked to a nearby clump of trees. He leaned against one of them, his cheek pressed against its trunk. He hummed a soft tune beneath his breath, fatigue sinking into his skin. His eyes fluttered shut and then snapped back open.  
  
Beyond the trees he hid behind was a small clearing. Usually the uncommon grazing areas were filled with the gentle prey animals of the Forest, but not that night. At least, not quite.  
  
The only thing Sasuke could focus on, at first, was the shining, wispy forms of the animals he had been expecting. Some nuzzled at the grass, others played with one another, and more still had converged at one spot. They were a dazzling silver and Sasuke wondered if the one who had made them had crafted them from moonlight.  
  
It took another second for Sasuke to realize that the majority of the animals weren't just around _anything_ \- they had surrounded a _goddess_. When he finally saw her, he could make out her starlit outline—and she was not someone he recognized. All he could see of the goddess herself was draping, black cloth, but Sasuke had never seen anyone dress like that before.  
  
The goddess herself was kneeling, her cloak splayed about her. In front of her was a deer. It looked as though it simply fell asleep, its body curled up in her lap, but it also had a strange glow.  
  
Sasuke, thoughts aimlessly roaming for some sort of explanation, remembered that the animals of his forest were just as Divine as he was. The idea that they could leave a trace behind just as he could had never occurred to him.  
  
He itched to get closer, to touch the glowing fur and marvel at their magic. He wanted to cradle the animals that had once belonged to him but now, it seemed, belonged to her. He wanted to know who she was, this new goddess; wanted to see her face and hear her voice. Sasuke wanted to ask her for her name—to give her his hand and imprint her Domain into his very soul.  
  
But he didn't dare show himself.  
  
She was a glowing image of glittering veils layered upon one another. Though her outer cloak was black as night, her power nearly shivered in air. Sasuke watched, enchanted, as her shroud of stars glittered gold while wisps of eerie light danced across her body. She was unmoving and did not flinch when a bird settled itself on her shoulder, did not shift to move it.  
  
Then she stood, as if she had suddenly remembered she could move at all, and Sasuke—Sasuke lost his breath. His eyes followed her graceful rise and then hovered at her hand, where the ghostly form of the deer also rose. He looked to the ground where the deer's physical body still laid, not quite understanding what that meant. 

When he looked back up, Sasuke had to stifle a smile. The deer nosed at the goddess' fingertips, gently headbutting her wrist until she ran her hand across its head and down its neck. The deer shook itself out and walked over to the other ghostly animals that played by the trees. The goddess wasted no time in following it.  
  
As she walked further into the dark night, the spirits wandered after her. Sasuke blinked as the shadows split apart, pure pulsing power ripping through the Forest's own magic, revealing a doorway to... _somewhere_.  
  
He watched as all the little animals vanished through the shadows until all that was left was the goddess and him. He tried to reach out, one foot already out from his hidden place among the trees, but his voice refused to rise from his throat and - then she was gone. Sasuke's chest tightened, like his breath couldn't escape from his ribs. He rushed to where the strange goddess had disappeared to, but nothing was left.  
  
He looked around, but his power only extended as far as his Forest did and, while it spanned many, many miles, she was no longer within reach. Sasuke, hands trembling, so very excited and anxious all at once, could feel his heart creep steadily into his throat.  
  
What a thrill—his very own mystery goddess.  
  
Quickly, Sasuke turned back to the deer's body, but he stopped short at where it had been just before. If he hadn't seen her, hadn't _felt_ her, Sasuke knew that he never would have guessed that she had been there at all. Nothing was left of her: not a single thread of her cloak, a spot of crushed grass where she had sat, or a single trace of the shimmering animals that had danced about.  
  
Tense and gobsmacked, nerves still alight with uncertain wonder, Sasuke nearly screamed when Ameharu moved. Gasping for breath, hand clutched at his robes, the god gave the weasel a weak glare.  
  
"Yes, thank you for that, Ameharu. I so greatly appreciate being scared to death."  
  
Ameharu just looked at him and licked a paw.  
  
Sasuke sighed and ran a finger down his back. Ameharu preened under his attention and nuzzled his cheek. Sasuke laughed and murmured, "Were you awake for that, my friend? Did you see what I did?"  
  
Ameharu cocked his head to the side and chirped. A yes, then.  
  
The god looked back to where the goddess had been, wreathed in shadows and haloed by spirits. He grabbed Ameharu and cupped him in his hands against his chest. A second later and they were gone.  
  
Greenery opened for him, the earth swallowing Sasuke whole as he traveled from the small clearing all the way to his Lord's home. While Sasuke often just slept in the trees for comfort, assured in their safety, Lord Yukimura had an actual home whenever he stayed in the Divine Forest. Though he was the god of the harvest, he never had the same sense of belonging with the Forest as Sasuke did.  
  
It made the following conversation both better and worse.  
  
All Sasuke would recall later was his grand opening, crushing sadness, and the dejected walk out. He had burst through the doors, calling for his Lord, his usual reservation gone in the face of such an intriguing mystery. Yukimura was quick to appear, hands up and ready to calm Sasuke down, but the buzzing in his blood refused to let the elder god say a single word.  
  
His story tumbled from his mouth in a waterfall, his hands cutting through the air as he talked. Sasuke told his Lord of the strange but magnificent goddess who played with spirits and created doorways from darkness—he clasped his hands together, not seeing the way Yukimura's face paled, and begged for information.  
  
"I've never seen her before, but she seemed so powerful!" he had said, voice vibrant. "Is she someone new? Can I meet her? Will she be joining in on the meetings?"  
  
Every question was a poison tipped arrow.  
  
Before he was finished his rambling, Yukimura cut through his verbal deluge with a solid, dead, " _No._ "  
  
After that, all Sasuke could remember was the sour, burning shame.  
  
Sasuke trusted and respected Lord Yukimura with nothing less than his life, but in that moment he was disappointed beyond words. His Lord had grabbed him by his upper arms and told him that the goddess he had seen was no one to know; he said that she was someone to stay away from and to alert _anyone_ if she came back again.  
  
Yukimura had called her Izanami—he had spat her name and then called her _destruction_ , called her _death_. He had said it was better that Sasuke never knew her, that her being out of Yomi at all was unnerving (he had said that to himself under his breath, but Sasuke had heard it anyway and grown even more confused. So, so confused).  
  
The heartache, that wretched constriction around his throat, must have shown on his face as the next thing Sasuke knew he was clutched close to Yukimura's chest, one hand on his head with the other on his shoulder.  
  
It had not escaped him that he was being treated more like a child than an equal - like how he treated Ameharu. That, more than anything else, had hurt the most.  
  
He remembered the hushed words Yukimura had whispered into his hair. That Izanami was an unfeeling, cold goddess who cared little for others. She was better than she once was, he had said, but that did not mean she was okay to be around.  
  
It was a plea to stay safe and as far away as possible and Sasuke had nodded at the warnings. He had bowed, muttered reassurances that he would keep to himself, and let his Lord lead him back to the more populated part of the forest. Back into the sunlight, the night now nothing but a far gone memory.  
  
But he could not connect Izanami to the goddess he had seen kneeling in the forest. He could not escape the image of her, hands gentle around the dead.   
  
Sasuke wondered if the goddesses he knew would prostrate themselves like that, if any of the other gods would ever lower themselves to the ground.  
  
(He knew the answer was no and wondered even further what it would be like to meet a humble god.)  
  
Sasuke chewed on his lip, hand stroking Ameharu in thought. His familiar stayed quiet, though Sasuke knew he too was curious about the goddess they had seen. He wanted to believe in Lord Yukimura, wanted to trust in his knowledge of Izanami - his Lord was one of the oldest gods, surely he knew what was best?  
  
_'Lord Yukimura is never wrong,'_ Sasuke whispered in the privacy of his mind. He laid upon the grass near a stream, the trees and water overflowing with dryads and naiads alike. He was still as a few younger faeries brushed flowers into his hair. _'Isn't he? Can gods not make mistakes?'_  
  
He glanced in the direction that would lead him back to the harvest god's house. He turned and looked to the path that would take him back to the clearing Izanami had been in.  
  
_'This is my Forest, my Domain,'_ he thought, _'not anyone else's.'_  
  
It was Sasuke who controlled the warm wind and the flourishing flowers, no one else. No other god or goddess slept on the Forest floor, safe in an embrace of vines and roots. No one else was more deserving of knowing who stepped foot into the Divine Forest and for what reason.  
  
Shouldn't he know how Izanami got there? Why she came at all? Leaving her own home seemed important, so why travel so far? Yomi, the land of the dead, was a sealed palace no one left—so why did she? Didn't Sasuke deserve to know that, at least?  
  
He looked back to Yukimura's house. He could feel his Lord's distress and knew the others would most likely arrive soon. And, like always, he would not be allowed into the meeting.  
  
Sasuke slowly breathed out, one hand still quietly petting his dear friend. He didn't quite understand what his Lord meant in saying such things. Yukimura had called Izanami destruction. He had said she was something like a wild beast, a _monster_. She was the goddess of death and so then she must be some kind of evil.  
  
_'But she was so gentle,'_ Sasuke thought to himself, his fingers deep in Ameharu's fur. _'To be left in Yomi with nothing but the dead... isn't she lonely?'_  
  
Lord Yukimura had not said anything of the evils she had allegedly committed. There was an itch in Sasuke, a distracting twinge that only got worse the more he thought about Izanami and all that his Lord had said about her. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to melt into the grass, startling the young girls around him.  
  
Sasuke just wanted to talk to her—to see how dangerous she was for himself. He was safe in his Forest, after all. It would protect him.   
  
When he arrived in a field, surrounded by the biggest flowers his Forest could grow, he set to work and ignored how the trees rustled, as if they were laughing.  
  
He scoured the ground for certain blooms, hoping he did not somehow offend Izanami with his choices. He wandered the grass, plucking at the flowers while also discarding some. Sasuke looked around, his lip chewed raw from nerves - it wasn't _enough_. He knew what he wanted to say, but how could such simple flowers impress a powerful goddess?  
  
_'What kind of flowers would one give to a death goddess anyway?'_ Sasuke paused, his eyes wide and bright. He ran back to the treeline and called out for the dryads nearby for help. The faeries were quick to aid him.  
  
He knew he wouldn't be able to find them himself, but the dryads could find any plant in the forest. Even dead ones.  
  
If the dryads thought his request was odd, they didn't say anything about it. Instead they dutifully searched the darkest parts of the area, snatching wilted flowers from under rocks and hidden in the deepest parts of gnarled tree roots.  
  
They came back to him, hands clutched around flowers that were dry and some even without their petals. Sasuke thanked each and every one of them profusely, but the dryads just giggled and filled his arms with their treasures. Just like with the living flowers, Sasuke took some time discarding them, keeping only the barely wilted with intact buds and let the others fall to the ground.  
  
And just like that, he had a bouquet for a goddess of the dead.

He took a few seconds to just look around. He knew he was directly disobeying his Lord, but Lord Yukimura hadn't told him anything. He deserved to know the goddess who had walked into his Domain without his permission. Knowing it was true didn't make him feel any better.

He breathed in deeply and turned to Ameharu, hidden in the neckline of his robes. "I'm sorry, but I can't take you with me."

Ameharu lightly bit at Sasuke's shoulder and huffed.

Sasuke laughed lightly. "I know, I know, but I don't want you to get hurt, just in case."

He gently plucked Ameharu from his perch and placed him in the grass. "Stay in this field until I return, okay? You can take a nap or something."

Ameharu nuzzled his fingertips before he went skipping off. Sasuke watched as he bounced over to one of the trees and dug into its roots, settling down for when Sasuke came back for him. It hurt more than Sasuke was expecting, but he couldn't give up so easily.

He swallowed his guilt, thanked the dryads one more time, and stepped from the flower field to the clearing. He let out a shaky breath and knelt before where the deer had lain.  
  
Sun slowly creeping toward the ground, he began to weave. He threaded the stems together, hands delicate as he wrapped them around each other, working until he had made a wreath; a living flower next to its dead counterpart in a perfect circle. Sasuke sat back and sighed, hoping they would be enough.   
  
He gently touched each flower and murmured their name, caressing each one with a little bit of his own magic. First a hibiscus and then a white hyacinth followed by a calla lily—wisteria, xeranthemum, amaranth, nettle, daffodil. He hoped she knew their meaning.  
  
He placed the crown upon the ground, stood up, clapped his hands together, and bowed. Then he prayed, "To Izanami, ruler of Yomi. May you accept these flowers as an offering from the Divine Forest and take them as an invitation."  
  
Sasuke moved back from the wreathe to the treeline he had hid in earlier, giving Izanami plenty of room to show herself as she pleased. If she showed up at all, of course.  
  
He hoped he wasn't making a mistake.

* * *

Isanami had been gazing from a window of her castle, yet again unsatisfied by the view, when she was startled by a sudden Call of her old name. Her eyes narrowed, a flare of anger warming her instantly.  
  
The gods who knew her were well aware that she had long since changed her name. To invoke it so _casually_ , as if she had not been brought low and purged millennia ago—the air around her sparked, her eyes glowing red. Isanami set off to the garden, happy to use the Call as an excuse to loom over the gods who had left her to rot.  
  
Or, at least, that was what she had planned had she not heard the rest of the prayer.  
  
Isanami had flown through the arches that lead to her garden, but her rage was quickly quelled. Flowers? Invitation? To the _Divine Forest_? No god would ever dare invite her to their Domain, let alone give her entrance to such a sacred place.  
  
_'It can't be a trap. They would not dare anger me nor do they have a great enough cause to do so, surely.'_ Isanami looked to the prized jewels that made up her garden; she was sometimes struck by their beauty, how the emeralds and sapphires emulated real flowers. She reached over to stroke a glittering ruby, molded into a spider lily.  
  
Her stomach clenched as her fingers danced over its sharp edges. She shut her eyes as they began to burn, but even closed they hurt. The squeeze of her insides was a familiar feeling, but Isanami couldn't quite place it. She let her hand fall and refused to acknowledge how it shook.  
  
(Isanami would never remember this pain, would never understand how its weight was that of an old friend's, but a part of her soul wept in relief. A small shard of Izanami, a goddess who suffered for her husband and died for her child, still lived. She still remembered how her heart had broke as her husband had ran in fear of her—and how she was taken apart afterwards, as if being furious was worthy of the punishment of forgetting.  
  
They had both died to be reborn together and the two were forever intertwined, but it was only Izanami who knew what to call this suffocation. She, not Isanami, was familiar with this painful loneliness, but she would rather be torn apart a second time than admit her sorrow.  
  
Would rather die again than admit that she missed hearing someone speak her name.)  
  
Isanami took a deep breath and let her mind fade back into gray mist - let it cool into an intangible breeze. She took one last glance at the ruby flower and turned away, striding to the center where a tree once stood. The jewel flowers glittered in the ghostly light of Yomi as she called forth Kagu-tsuchi, her personal stallion.  
  
He appeared from the shadows and went to nuzzle Isanami's cheek. He was skeletal with a mane and tail of fire, his obsidian eyes a burning red. Kagu-tsuchi was a recognizable omen of death as wherever he went, Isanami herself was not far behind.  
  
"Hello, my sweet Sekikai," Isanami cooed. "We're taking quite the journey today."  
  
Death omen or not, Kagu-tsuchi adored his mother and happily accepted the kiss she placed on his forehead. He stayed still as Isanami swung onto his back and braced himself for travel.  
  
Isanami breathed in, breathed out, and guided Kagu-tsuchi forward.  
  
In a blink they were once again in the Divine Forest, shrouded by moonlight. Isanami looked around from beneath her cloak and frowned. She could taste her own power in the air along with whatever god had been there last.  
  
She gazed around the clearing as Kagu-tsuchi walked further into the open area. Her eyebrows raised.  
  
_'This is the same spot as the last time I was here,'_ she thought to herself. _'Now, why would the Call come from here?'_  
  
Her son huffed and scratched at the ground. Isanami ran a hand down his neck before peering over his head. She blinked and then blinked again.  
  
Isanami slid off Kagu-tsuchi's back and made her way to a circlet of flowers. The one who Called her _had_ mentioned them, but she wasn't expecting a gift.  
  
She glanced around and, after seeing no one, knelt down. She touched the petals of each flower one by one. Beauty two fold with grace, a welcome, immortality and death, with respect to her rounding back into beauty.  
  
The person who made this welcomed her with respect, knew she was the goddess of death—and yet called her _beautiful_.  
  
Isanami's heart lurched and gave a painful twinge; one hand went up to soothe the sudden ache. She managed to swallow and breath through it just enough to ask, in a soft voice, "Now who would make such a thing for Death?"  
  
From further back, Isanami could feel the movement of another person. She let them slowly creep closer; she was not unaware of the intimidation her child wrought nor of her own striking visage. She stayed put and gazed at the crown of flowers made for her (for _her_ , queen of the underworld, oh how strange) and let the silly little god who had prayed to her come ever so slowly near.  
  
The glow of them reached her first, blowing out her shadows until they were stretched thin and tall. Isanami considered them for a second before she turned - and her breath caught in her throat.  
  
Isanami had seen many gods throughout her life and had given birth to the majority of them, but she had never seen a god who glowed so prettily nor with such radiance. He was a young thing, that was easy enough to see; he certainly did not hold himself with the self-importance and arrogance older gods did. His robes looked seconds away from falling off his shoulders, his feet bare, and every inch of exposed skin seemed to drink in the last embers of the quickly tiring dusk.  
  
It was hard not to admire his beauty, but she wasn't alone in her appreciation.  
  
Sasuke had been taken aback by the fiery horse, uncertain if it was safe to approach, but the goddess had not moved further than his offering and neither had it, so Sasuke had steeled himself and walked closer. When he heard her murmuring, he swallowed. Sasuke was not quite sure what he thought the goddess of death would sound like, but her soft voice was at great odds to the stories he had been told.  
  
When she turned to face him, Sasuke knew Lord Yukimura, no matter what he had said, was wrong.  
  
All he could see was just her face, but that was more than enough. Sasuke's eyes traced how her silver hair fell from its hiding spot in her hood, the thin strands gleaming against the inky black of her clothing. Her skin too seemed to shine, as if she had rubbed pearls into her cheeks and forehead. He could not quite see her eyes, only saw that they were focused on him, but that was enough for his heart to beat harder than before.  
  
Body thrumming with anticipation, Sasuke set his shoulders and bridged the gap between them. Isanami stood up, hands still filled with flowers, and waited until he was within reaching distance.  
  
Sasuke slowed to a stop a few feet from her. His breath escaped him in a quiet shudder—her eyes were pure gold. He cleared his throat, bowed, and said, "I am Sasuke, the god of nature and blooming things, vassal of Lord Yukimura, the god of harvest. I am the one who invoked your name. It is an honor to meet you, Izanami, goddess of death."  
  
Isanami held up a hand and stopped him before he could continue. "I am _Isanami_ , the ruler of Yomi. I have not been called by that name in a very long time."  
  
Sasuke blushed and bowed a second time, this one much lower than before. "I am terribly sorry, my Lady! I was told of you only a day before and the god I had spoken too had some, uh, wrong information. But, but I do not mean that as an excuse! Truly, I was quite hasty in Calling for you, but when I saw you not too long ago - not, I mean, I wasn't watching you or, at least, I didn't _mean_ to—"

Isanami just continued to watch him with intense golden eyes. Sasuke felt tiny beads of sweat at the back of his neck begin to roll down his skin. It was as though she was staring into his soul—and as the goddess of death, that could have very well been true had she not been just as taken with him as he was with her.

He continued to rattle off apologies, his words blending into one another as Sasuke tripped over himself to explain what he meant, but Isanami wasn't listening.  
  
Lashes fluttering, Isanami felt giddy in a way she never had before, like a young girl finally realizing how beautiful and handsome her friends were. While Sasuke rambled on and on, apologizing for what seemed to be absolutely nothing, Isanami just considered the pink flush of his cheeks. She watched the twitch of his fingers, the tremble of his lips, the way his eyes seemed to beg her for forgiveness.  
  
_'He's so_ pretty _,'_ she thought to herself, not at all paying any attention. _'_ _I've never seen a god glow like that.'_  
  
Her chest felt fuzzy and warm and _tight_. Her fingers grazed the outside of her cloak before they pressed down right over her heart. It wasn't the most pleasant feeling in the world, but it was more than what Isanami had ever felt before.  
  
Sasuke, this young and pretty god of nature, warmed her soul. He had Called for her, made her a gift, invited her directly into his Domain—and now he was apologizing to her so fervently, as if he had made a horrible error instead of an honest mistake. Isanami knew a kind god when she saw one and this one, this god of nature, was so sweet she could almost taste it on her tongue.  
  
It made it so very easy to interrupt him.  
  
"I do believe that is enough," she said, stepping closer. Sasuke snapped back up and audibly swallowed. Isanami considered him for a second more and asked, "Would you like to visit Yomi?"  
  
Already blindsided by the interruption, and quite sure he was about to regret _something_ , Sasuke barely withheld a splutter of surprise at the invitation. He had only barely stuttered out a _"_ _what?"_ and then—  
  
Then Isanami was right in front of him and Sasuke nearly choked on his own tongue. Still bent in a slight bow, Sasuke was at eye level with Isanami's jaw, so afraid to look at her head on. He could feel his cheeks get warmer, his blush staining his entire face red, and he was flustered enough looking _down_ let alone what kind of fool he'd become if he looked her in the eye.  
  
Lord Yukimura was going to kill him, he knew, but Isanami was so very calm and kind. Sasuke didn't need eyes to recognize loneliness. It pained him so sharply to know that his Lord had been so grievously wrong; he wanted to believe in his master, but Isanami herself had quite firmly made it plain that she was no longer Izanami, the goddess Lord Yukimura was so terrified of.  
  
Sasuke wondered if his Lord had ever taken the time to speak with her after her death. Watching her still run her fingertips over the flowers he had picked for her, Sasuke could hear _monster_ in his ears and knew that no one would have talked to her.  
  
Isanami was the goddess of the death and shadows, powerful and intimidating. She was the gatekeeper of Yomi, the Lady over souls no matter if they had been her own grandchildren or of the damned. But Sasuke saw how she had stroked the petals of the flowers he had picked out with nothing but love and care and he—he was lonely, too. He wanted to meet someone new, who wouldn't immediately treat him like a child - and here she was.   
  
Here she was.  
  
"Yes," Sasuke breathed the word out like a confession. "I would love to visit your Domain with you."  
  
Isanami didn't smile, but her eyes almost sparkled. She held out a hand to gently guide him to her horse and Sasuke blushed to his roots the entire time.  
  
She swung up first and lowered her hand to reach for his again, pulling him up with a distracting ease. After a second of hesitation Sasuke wrapped his arms around her waist, Isanami's shoulders ticking up just a hair in bubbly delight. They rode on through the shadows, the chill of passage sending Sasuke into brief shivers, and the door to Yomi opened. Sasuke was only seconds away from gasping when he realized the horse had stopped.  
  
He turned to Isanami and couldn't stop the gasp a second time. She had twisted just enough for one glinting eye to peak out from her hood, the gloom casting her in shadow, and spoke just loud enough to say, "Welcome to the dead lands."

* * *

Lord Yukimura was the god of the harvest and had been one of the very first gods birthed into the world alongside humans. He was the Lord over all gods and deities who gave life to the Earth and made a point to try and be present for all of those who worked under him. Yet, in the many years of his long, long life, Yukimura had never felt such acute panic and terror as he did when Sasuke had spoken about a goddess summoning the dead.  
  
He knew he had scared the young god with his outburst, but stressing the importance of staying away from Izanami was more vital than protecting Sasuke's feelings. Still, he hadn't been as clear as he had wished, and so he had set out to talk with Sasuke and explain the disaster Izanami's attention brought.  
  
That was the idea, until Yukimura realized that Sasuke was no where to be found.  
  
He tried calling for him, Sasuke's name travelling throughout the Forest as the dryads echoed his voice, but the god did not come running. Yukimura then tried Calling for him, a short prayer that settled into his Domain, but Sasuke didn't answer that either. He tried to feel for his presence, only to come up short, and was forced the follow the worryingly faded trail Sasuke had left behind.  
  
Yukimura spent over an hour walking through the trees, slowly growing more and more desperate as Sasuke's trail grew into a sprawling mess. He couldn't tell if Sasuke had been searching for something or fleeing from something - neither idea was something Yukimura wanted to consider.  
  
(He was the god of agriculture and the seeds always bent to his will, but the Forest was _old_. Its seedlings sprouted beneath the feet of only one god and Lord Yukimura was not him.  
  
What a treat for the Divine Forest, to lead such a funny god astray. Did he not know of its amusement? Of its love for the nature it bore and the god who sheltered it? Could he not feel the magic of its god's little familiar, sleeping only feet away? Could he not see how it recognized Isanami as the goddess who birthed it?  
  
Such silly immortals, the Forest mused, always forgetting that they are not the oldest things alive.)  
  
Sasuke's trail eventually lead Yukimura to a small cluster of trees. He stepped around them and found himself facing an open field, strangely empty of the animals who roamed the forest.  
  
Yukimura took a few cautious steps into the clearing proper. He looked around, power threatening to burst from his skin, but all he could find was the lingering taste of clean air and fresh grass mixed with a chilling mist—and even that was faint _._ He bared his teeth and followed the cold to where it was strongest, only to come upon a wreath of flowers.  
  
A wreath of the living and dead, their stems tangled together like lovers.  
  
He knelt down, his chest cold, and ran his hand over the crown. Gently, Yukimura picked it up and read the message they whispered, only to nearly crush it in his grip.  
  
Quickly, he stood back up, curses flying from his lips as he disappeared from the Forest entirely.  
  
Yukimura stepped out into his home and set off for his office. He Called for his brother and adviser, told them to bring whoever they could find, but to be at his house immediately. He could only hope that his older brother took the summons with grace.  
  
He had managed to work himself into a frenzy of worry by the time the small group had arrived. Rokuro had gathered the rest of his fellow vassals, an impressive, praise worthy feat. The tension in the air thickened until it was almost possible to breathe it in and each god readied themselves, hands twitching for their weapons.  
  
Nobuyuki stepped forward, throwing a dismissive glance to the group next to him. "What is the meaning of your Call, brother?"  
  
Yukimura turned to him, looked to the others, and fell into his chair. His legs simply not hold him up any longer. Rokuro and Kekai hurried to his side, but all Yukimura could see was the flowers on his desk and the mockery they made of him.  
  
Life and death, wrapped around each other. Sasuke was gone just after he spoke of Izanami making her way out of Yomi. What else could such an omen mean?  
  
The news escaped his mouth against his control: Izanami had somehow tricked her way into the Divine Forest and stolen Sasuke from his home.  
  
The next few hours were filled with arguments and threats. Some, including Yukimura himself, wanted to go to Yomi immediately, but Saizo and Rokuro had refuted his hastiness. They didn't know if they could win against Izanami in her own Domain, they didn't know if trying would only lead to Sasuke's demise, they didn't know when Sasuke had even left—so much they didn't know.  
  
Jinpachi had brought up Izanagi and how he could navigate Yomi better than any other god. Nobuyuki kindly reminded them of how Izanagi had fled in fear of his then-wife. Komatsu had crossed her arms and hissed that, had it been her to see her wretched ex-husband walking through _her_ land as if he had the right, she would have impaled him the moment he stepped foot in her Domain.  
  
Nobuyuki had flinched at his wife's hypothetical rage - and then fully cringed when Anastasia bluntly pointed out that Izanami had died because she had kept trying to kill him. He had conceded, but Jinpachi refused to be swayed.  
  
("He was her husband! Besides, isn't she better now?"  
  
"I don't know how else to explain to you that better person or not, Isanami would probably _thoroughly_ enjoy dragging Izanagi to the pits of Yomi to kill him."  
  
"Well, that seems a bit—"  
  
"I know you don't remember it well, but _I_ do. Isanami would be furious - not just because of Izanagi daring to show his face but also of us making him do it in the first place. Besides, I'd love to hear your plan on getting him down there."  
  
That plan was shelved for good.)  
  
Kakei tried to establish peace, but the others wouldn't hear it. Saizo and Anastasia reminded Yukimura that Isanami ( _"she changed her name centuries ago, you idiots!"_ the ice goddess had yelled, fighting the others in a bid to get them to just _think for once_ ) cared greatly for human life. Yuri had simply scoffed, sneering at them that caring for humans did not mean caring for the gods.   
  
"Izanami—"  
  
" _Isanami!_ "  
  
"Whatever!" Yuri had snapped. "Her name doesn't matter, what _does_ matter is that Sasuke Called her himself."  
  
That brought everyone else up short. As one, they all turned to the flowers Yukimura had used as proof. Komatsu stepped closer to the wreath and plucked a petal from it. "He's right." She rubbed the petal between her fingers. "Sasuke made this himself - I can feel the love in it. He did it on purpose."  
  
"But _why_?"  
  
None of them could figure out what had pushed him to Call the goddess of death to his Domain.  
  
Yukimura sighed, exhausted down to his very soul. He stared down at the slowly dying flowers and hoped that Sasuke knew what he was getting himself into.  
  
(When Sasuke did not return for hours, days, _weeks_ , Yukimura only grew more and more anxious. The plants began to wither, the ground grew hard and unyielding. The skies grew gray for days at a time and the sun could no longer keep the air warm.  
  
Even the Divine Forest withdrew into itself, but it had no fear. Unlike the immortals who swarmed and the mortals who panicked, the Forest remained steady and amused. The land was not made to be ever-blooming, it knew, but it could not blame the silly gods who watched the decay with despair.  
  
The Forest knew they did not like their things dying. Did not like death. It explained so much, really.)  
  
While the gods ran amok, arguing about what to do, Isanami carefully lead Sasuke throughout Yomi. There was so much to see that days could pass them both by with neither being any wiser.  
  
What was once a bleak place of restless spirits had been broken into parts—the good and the bad no longer intermingled as they once did. But Yomi could not be so easily transformed. The fields of nothingness that had once been all of Yomi still stretched on, the plain flat and tirelessly unending. Isanami had wanted more for the souls who had lived quietly, but there was nothing she could do to keep them from wandering along the long walk.  
  
Already she had let him go out into the field and try to speak to the dead. Some were young enough to still talk, though there words were only ever words to Isanami alone, but most others had long since forgotten they even had a mouth. When she first explained it, Sasuke had questioned her about every little thing, wondering how you could just _forget_.  
  
All she could do was look him in the eyes and tell him what a godly thing that was to say.  
  
After Sasuke had his fill of failing to speak to the dead, Isanami lead him above to watch them wander about. She told him how the empty space would be their death until the end of times. Some people, she said, just didn't do enough to create chaos or change - and so here they came.  
  
Sasuke let the back of his hand brush hers and nodded.  
  
Isanami glanced at him from the corner of her eye when they crawled to a stop. He seemed so unlike the stuttering young boy she had invited to her Domain. His eyes found hers and quickly turned away, his ears awash with a light pink just bright enough to make out in the dimness.  
  
_'Ah,'_ Isanami thought with lazy amusement, _'there it is.'_  
  
Her good mood plummeted with a heavy swiftness when Sasuke asked, "If this is where normal, everyday mortals go, where do the bad ones go?"  
  
She didn't know how to say _'drowning in pits of ravaging hellfire'_ or _'chained to caves while the very thing they envied for in life sits only inches out of reach'_ or even _'what do you consider bad'_ , so she just asked right back, "Do you want to see?"  
  
Isanami wasn't sure if she was surprised or not when he said yes.  
  
It took no time at all for Sekikai (and wasn't it a shock to learn Kagu-tsuchi, god of fire, was her son) to lead them into hell. Isanami held on to Sasuke's arm, unwilling to let him get any closer than they already were. When she gently pulled him to a stop, she forced herself to let go and step back; for all that he wanted to see the suffering dead, she did not.  
  
There was something breathtakingly awful about the screams she caused - it all came down to her, after all. It was always the decision of Yomi's ruler to direct the spirits, to give them the afterlife they deserved.   
  
Not that anyone but her would know, of course. Yomi didn't _have_ a ruler until her.  
  
As they stood above hell—for what else could it be, really—Isanami could feel herself slip back into that aching hurt. She had created the burning pits, breathed them to life from the embers of her anger so long ago, but standing near them always brought back that sting of betrayal.  
  
For all that she could not stand them now, she had once made them because she had thought them necessary. She, no one else, had wanted others to hurt just as she had been.  
  
Izanami was the monster who had ravaged the gods, but Isanami was the one who tortured the dead. Some days she could not tell which version of herself was real. Looking at Sasuke, lit by the flames that had licked at her palms and lived in her child's eyes, Isanami wasn't sure which version she wanted to be.  
  
Sasuke turned to look at her. She eyes skated past his and out beyond the cliff. "I cannot say that I understand, but I wish to."  
  
Isanami throat tightened. It was more than any other god had given her.  
  
"I do not remember Yomi as it had been." Isanami's voice was soft, as all confessions seemed to be. "But the feeling of it? That endless apathetic wandering? It never really leaves you."  
  
She did not move and Sasuke was afraid to touch her - as if she were nothing but an illusion created by the misty fields themselves.  
  
"I've tried to help the souls here, to maybe ease the numbness, but even in death they are sometimes too dangerous to bother. And so," she waved her arm and motioned to the darkness that seemed to stretch forever, "they reside here. Will always be stuck here."  
  
Isanami's arms dropped to her sides, her hands trembling. Yomi continued to stretch on.  
  
"There is so much _pain_ here," she said, her eyes burning. She turned to Sasuke, her captive audience to her anger, and for the first time since her death, told the truth. "I _hate it_ here."  
  
Sasuke's eyes widened, his mouth dropped open. He could never imagine hating his own Domain. The Divine Forest took care of him, loved him just as much as he loved it - to hate the very place you are god of? To disavow the people in your care?   
  
Isanami looked away, her hands clasped tightly together. "No one has ever asked me about how I feel about this place—to rule the very kingdom that caused my suffering to begin with. But I can't _leave._ No other god would ever _stoop so low_ ," she spat the words out with a vengeance, "as to rule Yomi and I refuse to abandon the souls here just as I once was."  
  
_'Oh,'_ Sasuke's heart whispered. _'Oh, no.'_  
  
Sasuke knew it took Isanami everything to not _hiss_ the words out. It was no wonder she had once raged hard enough to threaten even the gods far beyond the clouds—she had once given the gods everything and all she got in return was a cowardly husband and the responsibility of the dead.  
  
"I hurt thinking about all the souls who would be left to suffer if I left, but it is clear I am the only one who thinks of them as the people they once were."  
  
"What—" Sasuke swallowed, almost afraid to ask. "What do you mean?"  
  
Isanami turned back to him. Her pale coloring, so striking in the darkness, so beautiful, just made her look as if she had bathed in sorrow. She swept her arm out toward the rolling fields of the underworld and laughed. It was like funeral bells had rung out: clear and far-reaching and so terribly sad.  
  
"The gods are despicable," she said. "When a mortal lives, they are to give up _everything_ for the gods - and when they are dead, if they had given a single _shred_ of themselves, they must give up their death too."  
  
Sasuke had never thought of it that way, but he knew exactly what she meant. He knew that Lord Nobuyuki sometimes talked with long-dead philosophers or scientists while Lady Komatsu entertained herself with the tales of lovers from their own mouths. Yuri and Saizo both often fought dead warriors. Even Lord Yukimura sometimes summoned his most favored dead sons and daughters.  
  
He knew that they had all encroached upon Yomi in one way or another and never once had they ever offered Isanami anything in return. Sasuke had seen it happen before—his Lord, smile on his face, would wave his hand and out came his children. No tributes, no prayer, no thanks.  
  
How disrespectful they all must have been. Had he been so disrespectful too?  
  
As if she could see him sink beneath the waves of his own mind, Isanami laid a gentle hand upon Sasuke's arm. Even if he wanted to, he could not stop himself from reaching out and taking it. She seemed happy to indulge him as he locked their fingers together. Her skin was pale and cool; she reminded him greatly of Anastasia in the same way the snow reminded one of ice—that the cold could bring about the softest flurry even as it could also create a frozen wasteland.  
  
"I will not lie and say I do not begrudge the other gods for what they have done. I cannot say that I do not sometimes blame myself for the pain here. _However_ ," she took hold of his chin and turned his head until he faced the last corner of Yomi, "there is more than suffering here."  
  
The corner she had pointed Sasuke to lit up as if it could feel his eyes. He walked forward, tugging on Isanami's hand until she stepped in line with him. She glanced back at Sekikai, bemused, and the two shared a look at Sasuke's sudden energy. Isanami let Sasuke pull her along, getting a bit faster the closer they got to the brightly lit city.   
  
Isanami would be a liar to say she was not happy to see the small bit of paradise in Yomi. The walk from the raging pits to the city was a long one, but Isanami was too fond of the bounce in Sasuke's step to remind him that her son was willing to take them there.  
  
When they got close enough to see past the lights and watch the spirits walk about, Isanami finally stopped. Sasuke was tugged to a halt when Isanami no longer moved with him. He looked back at her and she shook her head, one hand motioning to the buildings.  
  
"This is where the good go," Isanami said. "And do you see the tower further in?"  
  
Sasuke squinted to look past the glow, but it did not take long to spot a tall structure set aside from the others.  
  
"Yes, I see. Does something special happen there?"  
  
Isanami looked at him for a few seconds. Sasuke fought against the urge to fidget and wondered why he felt like a particularly amusing pet.  
  
She squeezed his hand. "Those who live there were the best. They gave to the poor, aided the disabled, loved the hopeless. They can finally rest peacefully."  
  
"That sounds lovely."  
  
"It is." She tugged him closer, peaking at him from beneath her curtain of hair. Sasuke couldn't help but smile. "I love to watch them."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Oh, yes. There are so few," she told him, the hint of a curve to her mouth, "but they are very beautiful." She paused, then said, "Like you."  
  
Sasuke blushed and stuttered out a choppy " _thank you_ " and her eyes gleamed. Isanami leaned even closer and murmured, her words nearly lost within his hair, "These are the ones I keep from the other gods. They are too good to be bothered in death."  
  
Isanami made to lean back, but Sasuke quickly turned his head. Her eyes made him swallow, but he managed to ask in a hushed whisper, "Would you fight for them?"  
  
Her eyes widened. Her lips curled up even more as she said, " _Yes_."  
  
They both turned back to the happy spirits who went about their day, their hands still clasped together.  
  
By the time they had made it to Isanami's home, they had let go of one another but had drifted even closer together. Their arms brushed with every step; Sasuke had bitten his lower lip to keep a silly grin from taking over and Isanami kept her hands tucked away in her sleeves to keep her from reaching out and trace the freckles sprinkled across Sasuke's cheeks.  
  
The ground slowly turned from rock to soil to marble. As they grew closer and closer, Sasuke saw how some of the garden ornaments shined. Isanami's quiet voice broke his staring.  
  
"They are made of gemstone." Sasuke turned his wide eyes to her. Isanami motioned to the many statues that dotted the area between the doors and the gates. "There are many things to be found when you live beneath the earth. Things do not grow here, so everything is built of the minerals we could find."  
  
There was bluebell fire lined up and down the path to the castle doors. The doors themselves stood tall and proud, nearly blending into the rock around them. The castle itself was a deep red that stretched tall enough that Sasuke could not quite see the top of it. Even though the grounds were huge, everything leading up to the doors were very straightforward—when he made such a comment, Isanami revealed that she had no visitors to confuse with winding pathways and random staircases.   
  
The castle had been created by Isanami's power and little else. As they walked closer to the entrance, Isanami turned to tell Sasuke more about its creation, but the words died in her throat. Her eyes went soft and appreciative at how he glowed, all bronze and copper like he was the setting sun—she knew he was the only thing actually alive in Yomi and she wanted to keep him there so _badly_.  
  
Lost in her staring, Isanami couldn't see how Sasuke admired her right back. His eyes trailed over the waterfall of her hair, the soft blue of it turned white in the ghostly flickering light of the fire around them. Her gold eyes glittered and Sasuke knew she deserved to be the goddess of treasure, of riches and wealth beyond measure, because she had to be made of precious metal and gems just like her home.  
  
Isanami wanted to drink the light that poured from Sasuke, wanted to bathe in it.   
  
Sasuke wanted to wrap himself up in her, let Isanami coax his soul from his skin and keep it in her jewelry.  
  
Kagu-tsuchi huffed at the both of them and shouldered past them. Isanami cleared her throat while Sasuke let out a nervous giggle.  
  
"Well then, since you seem to be in such a hurry," Isanami teased her son. She turned to Sasuke and said, "Welcome to our home."  
  
Isanami opened the doors with nothing but a wave of her hand and walked through with ease. Sasuke wavered for just a second before the threshold, but then Isanami turned back to him, a single flash of a golden eye over her shoulder, and Sasuke followed her through. The door slowly closed, sealing back together without a whisper of noise—and then the ghosts began to chatter.  
  
While they made sure not to bother their mistress and guest ( _'a guest!'_ they'd gush to one another, _'a live one too!'_ ), they did nothing but bother each other. They talked and whispered and gossiped, the news reaching from one side of the castle to the next, for what else was there to do in Yomi then watch the lives of the living?  
  
Their mistress had come with a person, after all. With a god, oh a pretty one at the too, they would croon.  
  
And with news like that, they simply couldn't keep it to themselves.  
  
While their mistress kept her guest company, her oh so loyal servants ran about Yomi. They went first to the common people who roamed about, told them of sunlight and daybreak and moonbeam, and watched as they climbed to their feet to tell _everyone_. Spirits raced each other to spread the news until their words breached the divider of Yomi—and watched with unrestrained glee as a servant made it past the gates.  
  
The hardened warriors and old lovers and eccentric scholars were all told. The creators and geniuses were taken aside and giggling voices whispered in their ears, "Someone new has come, is here, who may stay."  
  
(Oh, how they crooned on about the living god among all the dead. They sang of how their mistress smiled now, how happy she finally was - for no one could compare with her suffering, her ill fate of the queen of the dead.  
  
And if they went to all the godly children, took them by the arm, and murmured of their parents? Reminded them of the agony of breathing, only to be shunted back to Yomi when their dear god's interest waned? Spoke of how living things simply did not understand the dead?  
  
If they said, _"when the gods come for you, reveal nothing"_ , then what were they to do? " _Say nothing, except for how kind our mistress is_ "—how could any of them argue with the dead? After all, what else was there to do but walk and speak?  
  
_"Speak of her love for us, how she has given us peace, and tell them nothing more."_  
  
_'Well'_ , they murmured to each other, souls immortal bright and mortal cruel, _'no one living is here to listen.'_ )  
  
Soon enough, Yomi began to stir as one. Anyone who had been plucked from Yomi before prepared their usual fare with smiles made of the stone used for their tombs - and the ones yet to be Called practiced their talents.  
  
The poets weaved their words into stories, just in case they were summoned to entertain; they made sure everything was in perfect meter and wrote their mistress as beauty herself. The warriors washed their blades within the many rivers of Yomi, the shine nearly blinding and the steel so sharp that when it cut bone they could crow to their mistress of their glory. The scholars took their knowledge, their history, their languages and inserted Isanami into every lesson.  
  
But the young, the barely there children killed by another god just to slight their parent, they were vicious in the sweetest ways. Sometimes they were Called for their budding potential or to be shoved in one of their new sibling's direction as if they had been alive long enough to learn anything.  
  
It was funny, they would say without laughter, how their parents still believed that they belonged to the gods.  
  
No, they plucked the new wild flowers of the underworld that glowed like polished silver from the very door of Isanami's castle and _wore_ them. They tucked them into shirt pockets, skirt lining, belt loops, hair—they threaded their love through rings and over ears and around necks. The dead had _never_ belonged to the gods and it would be the dead to show them that.  
  
And, eventually, after they had all dressed themselves up in their funeral best, they were Called.  
  
Each and every one of them bared the summons to the living world with tight grins. They bowed and played the ever loving worshipers, so grateful to be the one Called upon.  
  
They asked how they could be helpful and when the gods asked, so sure in their power, if Izanami (not Isanami the dead noted, not _their_ mistress at all) had taken the nature god, they answered.  
  
_'We would never meddle in the gods' affairs!_ ' the scholars and soldiers would cry.   
  
_'Izanami?'_ the young ones would ask. _'Who is that? The goddess of death? We have never seen her.'  
  
'Oh, the goddess, her beauty is unparalleled,' _the consorts and courtesans and dead human lovers would sigh. _'She is kind and fair and just, as a god should be.'_  
  
And when a god was too impatient, too hasty, too demanding—well, the spirits knew what to do.  
  
_'Go against our goddess?'_ they would all gasp.  
  
"Your goddess?" the other gods would ask, their voices filled with malice and shock and wary, wary fear.  
  
_'Are we not dead?'_ came the answer. No matter who the gods Called, the answer never changed. _'Is Isanami not the goddess of us?'_  
  
Day and night, spirit after spirit was Called before the gods and yet not one of them spoke out against Isanami. They kept the gods at bay, never letting them know the on-goings of Yomi, and prayed upon each other's souls that by the time the gods finally ventured down, Isanami would be married.  
  
Though some of the spirits had concerns of the nature god's presence at first, it was obvious that Sasuke brought light back into Yomi.  
  
They all had watched from the shadows as he worshiped Isanami as many mortals refused to do. He had carved out a place just for himself within the castle—had blessed the previously desolate gardens until they teemed with budding flowers and fruits. Isanami answered the questions he had as he played with the animals she kept, not minding their shadowy forms or skeletal faces.  
  
Sasuke had learned how to stop flinching at the dead who served them and thanked them instead. He was so uneasy as first, the dead could tell (any living thing would always be disturbed by the dead), but he grew to understand that every living thing must one day die. He treated them all with the respect they had earned when alive and their queen said nothing of his kindness, but they still had eyes.  
  
Even Sasuke could see how Isanami thawed. Could see how her mouth would curl just a little bit, her hand touching her lips as she watched him, and Sasuke heart always beat faster for it.  
  
Isanami would always compliment him after a ghostly visit. She would skirt her fingers across his jaw or tuck his hair behind an ear or even press a kiss to his temple, murmuring of how she admired his beauty.  
  
Sasuke would always say he was not as beautiful as her with a blush that turned his golden skin pink. He was always so, so earnest in his compliments.   
  
(Isanami, in the rare moments she had time to despair over her cold, pale skin, would feel every second her age - would wonder at how Sasuke could take her by the arm and draw flowers over her wrists.  
  
But Sasuke looked at her like she had hung the moon and stars, even when they had both met the gods who had actually made them. He never shied away from holding her hands and when he had marveled over how different they were—well, Isanami was powerless against his unashamed adoration.)  
  
Isanami learned through the most entertaining game of chess, one part due to her impressive poker face and another thanks to Sasuke's chaotic understanding of the rules, that he was the most dangerous when he was as quiet as the dense forest.  
  
In turn, after spending an entire week trying to make Isanami laugh, Sasuke finally realized the gleam in her eye was not just a smile, but a grin, and sometimes she would walk with a bounce like she would skip if she knew how.  
  
And when the time came that Isanami whispered of her power, the horrible destruction she had wrought, Sasuke was quick to say that it was not her. He would take her hands and thread them like flower stems and press a kiss to her cheek, murmuring how he already knew and had wanted to meet her anyway.  
  
He would fold her in his arms, her breath startling loud and shaky, and a wind would blow through Yomi. A breeze would ruffle the stale air with the smell of sakura and ume petals—and all of the underworld would turn and know that Isanami had fallen in love.  
  
She would not understand why her heart felt full to bursting, her throat was so tight she could not speak. She would not see how her love made her glow just like Sasuke did, but he would. He would take a few precious seconds to see how gold and silver could look a lot like sunlight and moonbeam before tugging her close.  
  
By the time the winds blew in Yomi, Sasuke had stayed for six months. His Lord had, at first, held off his creeping worry. The first few months of Sasuke's absence were only cool and grey, but the next slowly chilled until it was nothing but a sharp, biting freeze.  
  
Lord Yukimura became agitated and impatient, grown irritable without Sasuke's steady and quiet cheer in the face of his brother's cutting wit and his wife's over eagerness to just fight Izanami herself. Then he had grown depressed and lethargic when Yuri continued to stalk Saizo which bothered Anastasia who made Kakei fight Yuri with her, which only made Jinpachi trigger happy and _on and on and on_ it went.  
  
The spirits he had summoned were not helpful, had not _been_ helpful for the past six months, and he seriously considered just praying to Izanami herself if only to reduce the size of his damn headache.  
  
And then Komatsu burst through his front door.  
  
She had managed to drag each and every one of his vassals out from their hiding places and blocked the door when she had wrestled all of them inside.  
  
"Oh, be quiet!" she snapped at the grumbling men. She rushed over to Yukimura. "My Lord— _hush_ , Nobuyuki—I found a spirit willing to talk!"  
  
" _What?_ " echoed around the room.  
  
"Yes! It took me a bit to get her to say anything, but she's a daughter of mine and a daughter of love will always spill eventually."  
  
Yukimura straightened in his chair, his hands gripping the arms like it was the only thing keeping him upright. "Call her, Komatsu. Please."  
  
Komatsu nodded, took a deep breath, and summoned the dead.  
  
The spirit rose from the shadows with grace, her wispy form flickering for a few seconds before solidifying. The young girl was no more than a teenager, with those damned flowers encircling her head like a crown. Yukimura had braced himself for a fight of words, but the moment she saw him she broke into a grin.  
  
"The winds blew in Yomi!" the words nearly flew from her mouth. "The air! Oh, the air smells so _sweet_!"  
  
Yukimura blinked. "What? What does that mean?"  
  
The spirit gasped, her eyes wide open, but even that did not deter her smile. If anything, it only grew bigger. She twirled around and the flowers sewn into the hem of her dress sparkled. "She's in _love_ , of course! Lady Isanami is in love! The nature god will be her husband!"  
  
Yukimura stood, his hands crashing down onto his desk hard enough to splinter the feet of it and sent it to the ground. "NO!"  
  
Komatsu let the girl fade back to Yomi, her face grim, but none of the gods could escape the girl's laughter. As one, they all summoned their armor, their ever-so familiar weapons held firmly and with deadly precision. Not all cared for Sasuke as their Lord obviously did, but Yukimura was the one who gave them a home—they would not turn their back on one of their own.  
  
There was only way through Yomi and that was to begin at the gates of the underworld itself. Passing into Yomi was the easy part, it was the _getting through_ part that they would have to fight for.  
  
Each god let the ground fall from beneath their feet and let it fly past them as they traveled to the mountain that acted as Yomi's front door.   
  
But, it seemed, that Isanami was done playing with them.  
  
Instead of arriving still above ground, each god was whisked straight to Isanami's own front door. They all dropped into battle-ready stances, but no one stepped out to face them. All that the gods could see was the castle doors, the darkness, and each other.  
  
"Anyone have any ideas now or are we just going to keep—" Jinpachi was cut off as the large doors quietly began to open.  
  
When, again, nothing happened, Yukimura and Nobuyuki exchanged a glance before walking forward. No trap impeded their movement and nothing stopped them. The only thing they met along the way were closed doors and the dead servants of the castle. A few of the gods eyed the familiar flowers each servant had donned somewhere on their body, but they did nothing except bow and offer directions to their mistress.  
  
They all arrived at the garden to see Isanami as she sat in a mound of flowers— _living_ flowers. They followed her eyes and watched as Sasuke, alive and well, practically danced back and forth in front of her. He was talking, a stick of dango twirling in his hand, but his words were drowned out by their hearts pounding in relief.  
  
And then they all watched as Sasuke went to take a bite.  
  
Yukimura stepped forward and yelled out, " _Stop!_ Do not eat that!"  
  
The others leveled their weapons at Isanami when both she and Sasuke turned to look at them. Isanami seemed merely bored by their entrance, if not amused (something that sent a shudder through them all), while Sasuke entire face went slack in surprise.  
  
Kakei and Rokuro stayed by the door, their bodies slanted just so in the goddess' direction, while the others walked toward them both. Sasuke was stuttering, hands splayed out in confusion, dango stick still caught between his fingers.  
  
Isanami just sighed.  
  
Sasuke turned back to her and whined, one hand reaching out for her. Komatsu stopped, hand flashing out to catch Anastasia. The two women shared a look while the men hurried forward.  
  
Yukimura yanked Sasuke back and took the food from his hand. He threw it to the ground, ignoring Sasuke's indignant, " _Hey!_ "  
  
Sasuke just threw his hands up and, bewildered, asked, "My Lord, what are you doing here? What are all of you doing here?"  
  
His Lord clasped his hands on his upper arms, his grip nearly strong enough to bruise. Sasuke's hands flew up to cover them. Over his shoulder, Sasuke watched as Yuri was held back by Saizo from attacking Isanami outright.  
  
"Do you know how long you have been away?" Yukimura was seconds away from shaking his vassal. Sasuke's eyes snapped back to his. " _Months!_ "  
  
Sasuke's grip on Yukimura slackened. His mouth opened and closed, but no words could escape him. He knew that he had spent a long time with Isanami, but for so long?  
  
He opened his mouth again, unsure if the words to explain himself would come, but Yukimura talked over him. "Have you eaten anything Izanami has given you, Sasuke? Tell me!"  
  
Any reassurance Sasuke had died on his lips. Instead, the only thing he could say was a sharp, "Her name is _not_ Izanami!"  
  
"Her name doesn't _matter_ , Sasuke! What matters is if you've eaten anything from Yomi!"  
  
"Why would that matter, my Lord?"  
  
"To eat the food grown in the underworld is a _death sentence_ , Sasuke." Yukimura begged for his young charge to understand the weight of what he was saying. "If you eat anything here, you will be trapped here forever."  
  
Before Sasuke could say a single word, Jinpachi stepped forward and growled at Isanami. "Of course you wouldn't tell him that, you greedy bitch. Wasn't enough to just keep him here, huh? You'd force him to be your _husband_ , too?"  
  
Saizo looked to Sasuke, waiting for his face to fall as the horror of the situation finally settled in, only for his jaw to drop. Sasuke was instead looking at Isanami from the safety behind Yukimura, the tips of his fingers pressed gently into his lips as if to stave off a smile.  
  
"Were you really?" he asked, looking at her with his head ducked low.  
  
Isanami just nodded, a strange gleam to her eyes. The gods all tensed, irritated by her smugness. Unseen by the men in front of him, Sasuke melted just a tiny bit more at the rare glimpse of Isanami's smile.  
  
She stood and waved her hand, effortlessly summoning a spirit. Nobuyuki and Jinpachi both jumped back while Komatsu gasped behind them. In front of them danced the same dead demigod who had told them of Isanami's plan. The young girl twirled around her goddess before bouncing over to Sasuke. She stopped in front of a tense Yukimura, but she just leaned around him to bow at the bewildered god.  
  
The girl wiggled her fingers and winked. "Good to finally meet you, your majesty."  
  
Sasuke's face bloomed pink as the spirit giggled. He became even redder as the girl turned to Isanami and said, "Your husband is very pretty, my Lady!"  
  
"He is very beautiful, yes," Isanami replied, ignoring how Sasuke spluttered out rebuttals.  
  
Yukimura growled and shoved Sasuke further behind him, knocking him into Saizo, who then dragged Sasuke behind _him_. Nobuyuki stepped up to stand at his brother's shoulder.  
  
The god leveled his bladed fan at Isanami's chest and said, "Sasuke is not your _anything_. He is not your consort nor your husband! He is not yours!"  
  
Isanami tucked a piece of hair behind one ear and slipped her hands into her sleeves. She cocked an eyebrow at the gods, her eyes roaming across them all. She said nothing.  
  
Then her head tilted a bit to the side and she focused on something just beyond Yukimura's shoulder. Her eyes flickered back to him as she simply said, "Now he is."  
  
Everyone whipped around to see Sasuke, crumbs stuck to his mouth and cheeks round, with two clean dango sticks.  
  
Isanami brushed past the gaping gods. She nodded to her fellow goddesses and took sharp delight in how they glanced at each other in disbelief. The two gods by the doors stepped forward, but any attempt to stop her died a swift death with a single glare in their direction. She stopped in front of Sasuke and laid her thumb at the curve of his lips, one hand unashamedly buried into his hair. She slowly wiped the food from his face, eyes alight when Sasuke immediately wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned into her touch.  
  
Yuri could no longer take it. "You damn moron, do you know what you just _did_?!"  
  
Sasuke shrugged before nuzzling into Isanami's neck. He ignored the whispered " _holy shit_ " with grace and said, "I'm Isanami's husband now, right?"  
  
His grin sent both Saizo and Yuri's blades into his direction, the two gods mere seconds away from thrashing him. Isanami gazed at them over Sasuke's head, her eyes flat and unimpressed. The two gods promptly stepped back.  
  
No one else moved. The gods had no idea of what to do and Isanami was in no rush to unhand Sasuke - not that Sasuke was ready to let her go, either.   
  
In the end, Anastasia sighed. She strode over to them, dipped her head in a shallow bow, and turned to Sasuke. "Alright, how many did you eat?"  
  
Sasuke blinked. "Uh, six, I think?"  
  
The goddess nodded. "Six months, then."  
  
"Six months in my Domain and six months in his," Isanami said, her voice low and thoughtful.  
  
"He can't just stay here all the time." Anastasia nodded to the others. "You're not the only one who loves him."  
  
Sasuke frowned and glanced to Yukimura, cringing into Isanami's arms at the look he got back. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to worry anyone, I just didn't think anyone would really notice I had left."  
  
"You were gone for half the year, Sasuke." It pained Yukimura to think that this whole situation was the fault of his own lackluster explanation, but it would take a blind man to not see how much Sasuke obviously adored Isanami. He wanted to stay mad for just a little bit longer, but he couldn't. He sighed. "I'm just glad that you're healthy and whole."  
  
Sasuke squirmed from Isanami's hold and bolted to Yukimura, wrapping him up similarly. Yukimura hugged him back just as fiercely.  
  
Oh how Yukimura missed the smell of the clean breeze. "The mortals have missed their warm days, Sasuke."  
  
The younger god leaned back, his sheepish smile erasing the last of Yukimura's raw nerves. Isanami approached them both, reaching out to run a hand down Sasuke's back. Her pinkie bumped into Yukimura's hand and the two shared a look away from Sasuke's curious eyes.  
  
Neither believed they would ever like the other, but for Sasuke they would try.  
  
Isanami pressed a kiss to Sasuke's brow. "Don't forget to send flowers, my husband."  
  
Sasuke grinned. Arms still around Yukimura, he turned dropped a kiss to Isanami's cheek. "Anything for you."  
  
(The Divine Forest sighed where no one would hear it. It was glad to feel the relief of shedding its leaves, but it, too, had missed its god something terrible.  
  
And when the gods returned, so did the greenery and the warmth. Ameharu was retrieved with little fanfare and the world kept spinning. The god of nature had come back and so too did the harvest.  
  
In six months the mortals would panic again as the food receded from their plots, but all things must come and go. The Divine Forest settled in for the beginning of spring and waited for silver flowers to bloom.)


End file.
